The Amethyst Shards
by the anon is nigh
Summary: Ivan works to aid others who have a run-in with spirits, making use of his curse that had ostracized him when young: Glass shards that had fallen from the sky, and with it came a price of seeing what should remain unseen.


_That hair is moving..._

It was the first thing that came to Ivan's head as he watched the spectre hover around the garden, parting the flowers with the sleeves of its robe as if it was searching for something. The arm sleeves were a little too long, dwarfing to hide where the thing's hands would normally be visible. A cloth mask with an indecipherable symbol covered its eyes, leaving the lower part of its face in view. The ends of its robe formed into a ghostly tail, which swatted around the grass. If Ivan was looking closely, it would appear the tail was being used in the search, feeling the earth for something.

But Ivan, who is usually not this distracted, had his attention caught by the movement atop the thing's head. It was some part of its hair, a cowlick of sorts, that twitched from side to side like a dog's tail while the spirit continued its search, seemingly unaware of Ivan.

Only when the shrill cry of an old woman pierced the air did the spirit look up. For a brief moment, both Ivan and the thing stared at one other, before it flew away and leapt over the fence.

"Wait!" Ivan cried out, his legs kicking into gear as he gave chase to it. But he was only human and that thing from the garden was not. It was much faster, or have turned itself invisible, because once he got out of the fence gate and out into the road, it was nowhere else to be found. He gave out a frustrating sigh and closed his eyes, only to reopen them, glowing as he strained to see through the few scant trees that dotted the neighborhood and the houses nearby. But to his disappointment, there were no sulking spirits nearby.

Muttering curses under his breath, he closed his eyes before slowly opening them, the glow from before dispersing. He turned around and briskly made his way back inside the yard. Closing the gate a little too harshly, he gave the old woman approaching him a withering stare while she shakily lowered her head, looking apologetic.

"I am sorry! I know you told me to let you be alone for awhile... but in my haste, I forgot to lend you a copy of the house key. In case you need to leave the house when I am not here to lock up." She offered the key to him, her eyes glancing towards the bushes where the spirit was earlier. "It is so odd.. I did not _see_ it but I knew it was there. The flowers looked as if they were moving by themselves... Can you tell me how it looked like?"

Ivan ignored the question as he raised an eyebrow, pocketing the key away. "The neighborhood is not safe?"

"It is!" The old woman answered quickly. "It's just..." She looked hesitant at first to explain further, until she moved closer, her voice almost a whisper.

"I never had the need to lock my doors before, but ever since that... thing appeared." She averted her eyes. "I think it's been in my house. Only when I started locking did I feel safe..."

Ivan's eyes narrowed and looked up, his gaze fixed on the disturbed garden bushes before transferring them to the woman's comely abode. "Something of it was lost in here."

"Eh?"

Ivan ignored the woman again as he stared off, eyes sweeping over the houses in the little suburban neighborhood. He knew that beyond it were more houses, then office buildings and then it would get deeper into the hustle and bustle of downtown. They were miles away from the mountains, where the thick forests lie, the usual homes of these types of spirits, away from human civilization. Though some may be around humans, usually this was more prevalent in the countryside. But to be here, so far away from the woods and encroaching too close deep into human territory, a spirit such as this would not venture this far and risk getting caught or worse, hunted by exorcists.

Unless...

"It is searching thoroughly in your yard, as if it lost something precious. It is already trying to enter your house, from what you have told me. Luckily for you, it is not something that can go through walls easily, otherwise merely locking up your doors would not hinder its search. But it looks determined, and it will return again. Soon, it will find a way into your home."

The old woman gasped softly, covering her mouth with her trembling hands. She gazed downwards for a moment before looking up with hope. "But you can drive it away, can't you?"

Ivan tried not roll his eyes. "Yes, yes... but only if you are not here."

"Ah, well then, I should go and do a bit of shopping anyway-"

"No. You have to spend the night somewhere else, for I will be opening the door to it."

Before the woman can protest, Ivan held up his hand in a gesture to silence her. "For the spirit to abandon your home, we need to invite it inside - it will either find what it wants or leave completely to search elsewhere. I do not want things to escalate horribly if you are here panicking and attempting to get rid of the spirit too quickly before it can find what it is looking for."

Noticing the old woman looking upset, Ivan sighed. "If you really wanted it gone, you would have called an exorcist to banish it away. But you did not. Instead you called for me. This tells me you want to help the spirit in some way... and this is what I aim to do."

The old woman's mouth opened, then closed, forming a thin line. She then nodded slowly, accepting the terms laid by Ivan. "I will pack some clothes to stay the night with my sister. I am hoping you will watch over my home and keep it safe...?"

Ivan nodded in reply. "I will do my best to not let the spirit harm your belongings."

_Hopefully what it wants is not of yours._

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><p>.<p>

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When the old woman finally left, Ivan had locked all the windows and the front door, but left the backdoor leading to the well-tended gardens wide open. As soon as that was done, he searched inside for anything that might look out of place, something fitting belonging to such a spectre. He could not find anything out of the ordinary, and was hesitant to use the shards in his eyes and risk draining too much of his energy searching. He might need it tonight, when the spirit was bound to return.

Ivan took his seat on the window bench, gazing out as the sun set in. He watched as the sun cast a myriad of colors across the sky, but his mind was elsewhere, his thoughts surrounding that earlier encounter with the spirit.

Spirits... they come in many forms and many names. Manitou. Ifrit. Youkai. Rakshasa. Sprites. Utukku. Yaoguai. Alp. Haltija. Nats... He could see them all. Could talk with them. Could even touch most of them.

It would not had been so terrifying had not almost half of what he had encountered wanted to eat him.

Not just because he was human. But to them, they had told him he would "taste" exceptionally good because of what he had in him. A special power inside.

All because of ...

Covering the palm of his hand over his one eye, Ivan's mind briefly drifted off into that memory.

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- _His mother had gone to the store, so it was easy for him to sneak outside to play with his friends. With their makeshift swords, they pretended they were valiant knights off to rescue a princess. Slashing ineffectively at the plants surrounding the nearby woods, the children made swishing sounds and heroic speeches. But even with the excited chatter and shouts of his friends, Ivan could still hear hurried rustling in the woods. _

_And it was coming towards them. _

_His heart beat fast at the uneasiness settling at the pit of his stomach. Ivan stood frozen while his friends were jumping and running away, still caught up in their play, not realizing they were leaving the other boy alone to face whatever unseen danger that was making its way out from the forest. Frantic panting and a deep terrifying growl soon filled his ears when he -_

_._

_.  
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The sound of a metal bucket toppling outside by the garden jostled him from his thoughts, and he mentally cursed himself for his distracted state. The sun had long disappeared to gave way to the night. Drawing the curtains to a close, he moved away from the window silently, ears trying to pick up of any noise that would indicate the spirit taking the bait.

There was a rustle by the bushes, then silence.

There was a long moment of waiting. Ivan was normally a patient man, but as time dragged on, he was ready to write it off as a passing cat or a raccoon when a new sound appeared.

The tinkling of porcelain hitting against another. Then followed with the hurried opening of the drawers.

Ivan loosened his scarf and stalked downstairs, making sure the stairs would not creak underneath his weight as he blended in with the shadows. Back then in the garden, it seemed the spirit was terrible at picking up the presence of another, especially a human, and this made it all the easier to spy on the snooping creature.

He took a peek into the kitchen, and saw the spirit had its back towards him, checking every nook and cranny of the room. He can even see the little cowlick bobbing up and down. Ivan's eyes widened a bit when he saw it searching a small cookie jar. He was not sure why it would think to look in there. Was the spirit's possession that tiny? He didn't think to search for something that size. Or perhaps it was hungry for food?

But the spectre left the contents in the jar alone, and proceed to open the refrigerator and rummaged inside, further confusing Ivan as not one food item was taken or eaten at sight. Eventually the spirit left the kitchen and headed for the living room.

Ivan narrowed his eyes when the creature's search began to take a more frantic turn, and if he didn't put a stop to this soon, the spirit might just overturn and destroy everything in sight to find what it was looking for.

Loosening his scarf further, he took the cloth into his hands as he planned to overtake it from behind, but the spirit turned around too early, tensing in surprise before darting to the side to flee.

Gritting his teeth, Ivan yanked his scarf off from him, lashing the cloth towards the direction of his target. The scarf suddenly grew in length, stretching out to wrap around the tail end of the spirit's robe. With a tight grip at the other end of the scarf, Ivan tugged hard, watching the spirit fall down. The scarf continued to stretch, the animated object wrapping itself fully on its struggling prey as the spirit squirmed to escape.

"You won't escape easily this time." Ivan dragged the tied up spirit back to him, before letting go of the scarf. Kneeling down, he noticed the spirit trembling, and its little cowlick seemed to droop.

Ivan sighed, placing a hand on top of its head, feeling the body beneath him still.

"You lost something precious to you in here, didn't you?" Ivan softly asked. He waited for the reply that may or may not come, as spirits normally do not share anything with humans. He was about to open his mouth to encourage some cooperation from it when he felt the head under his palm nod vigorously.

Smirking a little, he carded his fingers through the spirit's hair in a calming attempt, noticing its body relaxing. He was amazed at times how different it felt compared to human hair. "I'm entrusted to watch over this home for a very kind old woman. As usual, she is frightened by you. But she does not want you completely banished, just to leave her house in peace."

The spirit looked away with a deep pout, and Ivan could feel it being upset. He shook his head as he continued to run his fingers through its hair. "Do not worry. I will make sure that before you leave, you will have what you are looking for. I will help you."

The cowlick started to bob up and down in excitement as the spirit squirmed to face him, smiling widely. Ivan grabbed the other end of the scarf. "But you will have to promise to leave this house alone once we find it. You will agree to this, yes?" Another vigorous nod from the spirit and Ivan yanked the scarf off, the cloth shortening instantly to its original form and freeing the grateful spirit.

"So..." Ivan stood up, winding the scarf around his neck. "...what exactly are we looking for?"

The spirit opened its mouth, pointing towards it with both his sleeves-covered hands.

Ivan raised an eyebrow. "You... are looking for food?"

The spirit shook its head and continued to point to its mouth, the gesture hurried.

"I do not understand what that means. Can't you talk?"

Another shake of its head and its jaw unhinged further, pointing irritably to its mouth.

Growling, Ivan closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to work out a kink in his muscles. "Look, this is getting us nowhere. Perhaps I can provide pen and and paper and you can try to-"

Upon opening his eyes, Ivan backed up quickly, slamming his head against the wall painfully.

The spirit was too close to him, too close with its mouth stretched inhumanely wide open, big enough to swallow him whole. Ivan had thought it had used a distraction to devour him, but the spirit stood still, its gaping maw too close for comfort.

_Does it want me to take a look?_

Ivan kept his head as close to the wall as possible, while his eyes peered down to take note what could be inside. That's when he noticed what was missing.

"Your tongue. It's not there."

The spirit withdrew instantly, nodding as the mouth shrank to normal human-size. It started flailing its arms, its face looking all around, before halting its movements to face Ivan. As if it was waiting to see if he finally got it.

There was a tongue, hidden somewhere in this old woman's house. Ivan thought it was definitely a good idea to send the woman away for the night. He peeled himself off from the wall and rubbed the back of his head to make sure there was no bruise when he had slammed it earlier. Gazing around, the place housed old furnitures and little antiques covered every possible corner and space, most of them possible family heirlooms that are too priceless to replace. It would take too long to search for something that small if they were to be careful, but he was not sure how the old woman would feel for another night of the spirit staying in her abode.

Ivan almost wanted to ask how it could have possibly lost something like that in here, but it would be futile as the thing could not talk. Grimacing, he cracked his knuckles as he stood in the middle of the living room. "We can't stay here too long. But..." He glanced towards the spirit who hovered close, watching him intently. "I know a way to make this easier. Stay still and do not touch anything." He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, harnessing the power from within.

His eyes shot wide open, glowing brightly. He ignored how the other spirit seemed to jump at the sudden change.

The dark living room now showed clearly in his sights. As his eyes roamed, brief memories within the house slipped into his mind. When he looked at the walls, his sight pierced through it to see beyond that, zooming in within several containers at a much faster pace as his eyes glanced from one object to another.

Ivan turned around slowly, his glowing eyes scanning the house to sense what would belong to an otherworldly being until he halted. He could sense the spirit moving closer to him, waiting for him to say something.

The shards throbbed painfully in his eyes, indicating he had found what he was looking for. Ivan moved stiffly towards his destination, the spirit trailing behind his heels. Coming up to a door, he grasped the doorknob and flung it open.

It was the powder room, tidy and clean, with a hint of lemon in the air. The old woman must have cleaned this recently. Turning on the lights, his eyes fastened to the toilet...

- _The old woman had thought it strange that after a week of cleaning, the powder room would start to smell. Again. Not horribly bad, but off putting enough that she had to clean the whole room again. She started to blame the toilet, as the smell seemed to permeate from it. It was so unusual, but she was embarrassed to ask about it to anyone. After all, an old lady couldn't possibly be using the toilet this much to get it to stink after a certain amount of use, right?_

_It was such an annoyance._

_"Oh.. darn it. Not again. I wish I knew what's causing this!" -_

Ivan lifted the top of the tank, setting it aside on the toilet seat lid. Inside, his eyes looked through the valves, the filler float, and the tube to spot what they had been looking for. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, the pain receding away. When he opened his eyes again, the glow dimmed until it was no more.

Ivan turned to the spirit, gesturing him to pick it up. It stood there gawking at him, then lifted both sleeves, wiggling them before crossing its arms together. Moving closer, the spirit nudged him.

"You are not serious." Ivan glared at it.

The spirit nudged him again, this time pouting.

"You better be gone before she comes back or else I will feed you to the other spirits." It was an idle threat, as he was not one to do such an act, but it helped feed his own frustration. He took off his coat and hung it on the wall, then proceed to roll up his sleeves. Bending down, he reached inside the toilet tank to retrieve it, his face grimacing in disgust. Once he finally caught it, he lifted his arm and offered the wet, dripping tongue to the spirit, still wriggling and very much alive on his palm.

The spirit jumped up and down, cowlick wagging like an excited tail.

It then leaned over, mouth widened to clamp its mouth around his hand.

"Hey!" Ivan shouted, tugging his arm back in alarm but the spirit was still latched onto his hand. He was about to punch it with his free hand until he felt the tongue on his palm twisting, growing until it was licking around his hand.

The spirit released with a wet pop, saliva dripping from its chin as it exhaled a sigh of relief, the first sound he heard coming from it. Ivan made a face at his hand, now even dirtier as it was covered with slime. "You couldn't think of a better way to take the damn thing?"

The spirit guffawed, wiping the saliva from its chin with the sleeves of its robe. "Sorry! I couldn't help it... I was just noticing how you smelled so delicious and I just had to have a taste! I know you wouldn't let me eat you so I figured I could give you a lick instead." The spirit continued to laugh as it hovered next to him while he washed his hand and arm.

"It is a pleasure to know I have provided much entertainment for you this evening." Ivan wryly commented as he toweled off. Slipping back into his coat, he ushered the spirit out of the powder room. "I think you should make use of your end of the bargain."

The spirit paused for a moment, tilting its head at him. "You don't want to know what happened with my tongue? Or even to know my name?"

Ivan stared at the figure before him with an expressionless mask. His earlier friendly disposition towards the spirit was no longer present, just cold indifference.

"Go. You are no longer welcome here."

The spirit backed away slowly, before darting towards the backdoor. Ivan allowed the stony silence to hang in the air before turning to flick the light switch off and closed the powder room's door.

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Ivan flopped onto the hotel bed, tired from today's work. After he had waited to drop off the key to the old woman and received his pay, he was led to another job, which turned out to be fruitless.

It didn't help that the family who asked for him had regarded him with caution, and had been quick to dismiss him when he reported to them of his findings.

His fists clenched, remembering the days after his eyes had turned to that odd color of purple, of days when his own mother feared him, of days when he was mocked as he told others of unseen things mingling with them.

_You're old enough to not let this get to you._ Ivan admonished himself, counting to ten as he willed himself to relax. He sat up to fold his scarf with utmost care and gently set it on his bedside table. He fell back to the bed and turned to his side, closing his eyes to prepare for a night's sleep.

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_"You don't want to know what happened with my tongue? Or even to know my name?"_

He ached sometimes. But nothing good can come with being too close to someone.

Humans treated him differently for what he could see that they could not.

Spirits treated him differently for he was just not one of them.

_"Go. You are no longer welcome here."_

He had lived just by himself for a long time. Had resigned himself to a lonely existence, which he told himself time and time again that it suited him, especially with his job, just fine.

But he ached sometimes.

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He felt himself waking up from his slumber. Blinking his eyes blearily, he eyed the clock next to him and he could tell it was still in the middle of the night. The need to use the bathroom made itself known and he grunted, lazily pushing the blanket aside. He sat up to yawn, blinking his eyes to focus, which was not hard at all as the curtains were pushed aside, the window open as the breeze rolled in.

He didn't open the window earlier.

By the foot of the bed was the spirit whose tongue was missing before, hovering over him with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

His heart sped fast as he felt the uneasy atmosphere. That was not a friendly smile.

Just as Ivan was about to get out of the bed to snatch his scarf, he felt himself yanked down, out of reach from his scarf. He fell hard against the floor and the spirit was on him the moment he was there. As he tried to buck it off, Ivan found himself bound by the spirit's tail.

"You're not the only one who can tie others up, mister." The spirit giggled, the smile showing all teeth.

"What the hell do you want? Or do you think you can make an easy meal out of me?" Ivan snarled, struggling even as the spectre loomed closer. He felt it clutch his head with the ends of its sleeves, gripping the sides tightly to keep him still.

Ivan growled loudly when he felt it lick the side of his face. "You would be fucking delicious, I don't doubt that." His breath hitched when he felt some prodding near his eyes. "But I can't get over how wonderful your eyes were last night. There's some powerful stuff in them. Tell me, _human_, what else can you see with these eyes of yours? How did you come to acquire a power of this magnitude..."

Ivan continued to glare at it, an enraged expression on his face. But inside, there was panic, an urgency to free himself.

"Do you even know what kind of power you hold..." The spirit asked, before gripping his head painfully that Ivan couldn't help but cry out. "Guess that doesn't matter! I'll just take them. Sorry that I can't give them back - you know, with me not having my own pair." The cloth mask over its face fluttered to reveal two sunken dark holes, where eyes would normally be.

Ivan struggled harder, cursing the creature in his native tongue. "If you are worried about leading a life as a blind man, say no more!" The spirit's tongue stretched out from its mouth, twisting and curling before it lazily flicked against Ivan's eye. "I'll make sure to put your body to good use, human..."

The tongue raised up, poised to strike. "...in my belly!".

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To Be Continued.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>**Human AU, Spirits fantasy based, with some comedy and mild horror. Heavily inspired by both Mushishi and Natsume Yūjin-chō. This will turn into a multi-chapter, so more will be revealed about the intricacies of Ivan's eyes and scarf, and more nations will appear in form of spirits/monsters.


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